Coconut oil consists of more than 90% of saturated fats - Don’t
panic! Your opinion may change.
During World War II, coconut oil was essentially cut off
from the United States and the United Kingdom.
As the war continued,
alternative types of cooking oils were developed. By the time the war was over,
there was a lot of money at stake — promoting the polyunsaturated vegetable
oils.
To top that off, by the end of the 1950's, the public opinion
had turned against saturated fats altogether.
The majority of the general
population believed them to be the culprit behind heart disease and no one
wanted to put any money into funding studies to disprove this theory.
Unfortunately,
the tropical oil industry (i.e. the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia) couldn't afford
to combat the negative propaganda spread by the multi-million dollar American
conglomerates, so coconut oil was bound to remain unpopular until decades
later.
Contrary to what the mainstream media has taught us,
vegetable oils such as soy, safflower, sunflower, and canola are actually the worst types
of fat for cooking.
They're highly subject to heat damage due to their bond
make up, which basically means that they become toxic to the body when heated!
Coconut oil doesn't have the same bond make up. It remains stable and is
completely non-toxic no matter how hot it gets.
The benefits of coconut oil can be attributed to the
presence of lauric acid, capric acid and caprylic acid.
The human
body converts lauric acid into monolaurin, which helps in dealing with viruses
and bacteria causing diseases such as herpes, influenza, cytomegalovirus, and
even HIV. It also helps in fighting
harmful bacteria such as listeria.
Coconut oil is fantastic for cooking but also for hair
conditioner, moisturiser and is beautiful when mixed with warm porridge.
Although 90% saturated fat, many people don’t realise that
the saturated fat is a particularly healthy class of fatty acids called medium
chain triglycerides (MCT’s).
These are what Lauric Acid is in coconut
oil. Coconut oil also has a very strong antioxidant power and
populations such as the Polynesian islands, where they consume coconuts as a
major part of their diets, are rarely troubled by conditions such as
osteoporosis.
Please remember that the saturated fats in McDonalds and KFC
are very different to the saturated fats in coconut oils.
Avoid the first like the plague and eat the second to your
heart’s content.
